At least 13 people have been killed and around 40 injured in a fire early Friday at a nightclub in Chonburi province, southeast of Bangkok.rescue teams reported.
Three of the fatalities were under 20 years old.while more than thirty of the injured are still admitted to two hospitals in the region with different levels of severity, as explained to the news agency Eph Plutaluang Police Captain Boonsong Yingyong.
The fire started around 1:25 a.m. Friday (6:25 p.m. GMT Thursday) at the Mountain B nightclub, according to Sattahip district rescue teams, who also noted that the fatalities are four women and nine men.
The causes of the fire are still unknown, but authorities reported that they took the owner of the nightclub to the police station to make a statement about the events and, also, on the conditions of the place license.
Also, the Thai government announced the inspection of the “structures and safety” of other entertainment sites “in order to prevent further fires.”
“Amusement venues that are not up to standard or not following the rules should work on improving them before operating as usual”Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said in a statement.
Witnesses who were at the scene of the events stated that the strong flames were first seen on the roof of the nightclub, which immediately “spread quickly” throughout the building due to the “acoustic foam” typical of those placesas they told Eph police sources.
For their part, the firefighters said in a statement that they needed more than two hours to calm the fire due to the large amount of flammable material inside the premises, such as air conditioners and sound insulation.
The videos published by the rescue teams and various witnesses to the events show the premises devoured by huge flames and dozens of people fleeing the fire, some of them with flames all over their clothes and even bodies.
(With information from EFE)
KEEP READING: